Burrata is best. There, we said it. This delicious burrata with smoked beets might seem a little complicated at first sight, but it’s actually not. The beets can be made in advance and kept for 3-4 days in the fridge. The mustard seeds are super easy to make and keep pretty much indefinitely, and the burrata and capers are just there for the taking. Waiting for you to marry them together for a moment of bliss. You can use the pickled mustard seeds in many dishes – and you will (because they’re that good!).

The combination of smoky beets, mustard, and capers might come across as a bit overwhelming. But we always say: More is more! And seriously, the creamy burrata perfectly balances out the intense aromas. It’s the perfect combination of salty, creamy, tangy, and brine-y.

Burrata With Smoked Beets and Pickled Mustard Seeds

Roasted beets have become such a staple there’s a tendency to take them for granted. but too often we see shriveled-up, wrinkly beets. This is not what we’re after. Much like meat or fish, vegetables can and should be cooked with care. Instead of forgetting our beets for hours in the oven, we want them cooked through but juicy and plump. There are a few ways to get there:

Add a splash of water to the pan and cover the beets with aluminum foil. This will generate steam to help the beets cook faster and more evenly. Depending on the size of the beets, they’d take anything between 45 minutes to 75 minutes. They shouldn’t necessarily be soft to the touch. Check them with a knife to see if they’re done. They’re good to go when the knife comes in and out fairly easily.

Special but not too complicated:

To smoke them, we used a very simple and cheap ‘smoking snail’. We really recommend getting one because it’s super versatile and super easy to use. But you could cheat and use liquid smoke. In that case, you can soak the beets in water with a dash of liquid smoke for 10-20 minutes before roasting. This will saturate them with enough moisture so you can skip adding that splash of water (but still wrap them with foil to capture all that steam).
As for the mustard seeds, there are many recipes out there, some more complicated than others. Ours is as simple as it gets: just throw all the ingredients together and let it boil until the seeds are soft. The pickled mustard will even get better with time. Just throw it into a sterilized container, and let it do its magic.

You’ll need these ingredients to make this burrata dish:

100 g mustard seeds
100 g water
70 g sugar
120 g champagne vinegar or white wine vinegar
5 g salt
5 small-medium red beets
5 small-medium yellow beets
olive oil
3 tbsp Liquid smoke
salt preferably rock salt but not a must
Smoked beets
Mustard pickle
1/2 burrata cheese
Big capers*
Olive oil
Mint

Here’s how to make burrata with smoky beets and pickled mustard seeds:

Bring everything to a boil, reduce heat to a bare simmer, and cook for about 45 minutes. It will get thicker over time. You can always add a splash of water to thin it down. Let cool completely and store in a sterilized jar in the fridge.
It’s essential to try and get similarly sized beets. We like smaller ones as they tend to be sweeter, less woody, and cook much faster. We used a convection oven, which has a combi function that basically steams and roasts simultaneously.
For smoking, we used a cold smoke generator with applewood chips. An excellent way to recreate this at home is to soak your beets in a water and liquid smoke mixture for 10 minutes. Remove beets from water, lightly coat with olive oil, sprinkle with salt (and a little liquid smoke if you’re feeling extra smokey), and wrap with aluminum foil. The extra water plus foil will create a steaming chamber inside your oven.
Roast beets at 200 degrees Celsius for 45-75 minutes, depending on size. Check for doneness by piercing with a knife. If it comes out easily, they’re ready. Don’t expect them to be soft to the touch. We are looking for fully cooked yet firm beets, not wrinkly softened ones.
Once cooked and slightly cool, peel and cut into chunks.
Place beets nicely on a plate, tear pieces of burrata, drizzle with olive oil, a generous sprinkle of flaky salt, mustard pickle, great capers, and mint.